Method for strongly softening plant food materials and aqueous solution used in said method

Abstract

The present invention aims to provide a method for strongly softening plant-based food materials so that the plant-based food materials can be suitably used as ingredients in dysphagia foods and nursing care foods, and an aqueous solution for use in the method. [Solution] The aqueous solution according to the present invention is characterized in that it contains solutes of baking soda and trehalose, with the amounts of these solutes being 1.0-2.0% by weight for baking soda and 1.0-2.0% by weight for trehalose relative to 100% by weight of water. The method for strongly softening plant food materials according to the present invention is characterized in that it prepares an aqueous solution in which 1.0-2.0% by weight of baking soda and 1.0-2.0% by weight of trehalose are dissolved relative to 100% by weight of water, and then immerses plant food materials in the aqueous solution and heats it.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for strongly softening plant-based food materials so that the plant-based food materials can be suitably used as ingredients in foods for people with difficulty swallowing or foods for the elderly, and to an aqueous solution used in the method. [Background technology]

[0002] The food provided to patients in hospitals, i.e. hospital meals, is extremely important in improving the nutritional status of patients and is considered to be a part of treatment. Hospital meals must be tailored to the state of each patient's intake function, and for elderly people and others with reduced swallowing function, in particular, it is necessary to provide soft, easy-to-swallow meals such as dysphagia meals and nursing care meals (hereinafter referred to as "dysphagia meals, etc.").

[0003] For elderly people who were unable to take in nutrition orally while hospitalized, it is considered extremely important to shorten the period of tube feeding as much as possible and to start taking in sufficient amounts orally as soon as possible in order to improve their prognosis. Providing inappropriate meals that do not match the swallowing function can lead to aspiration pneumonia and a decline in nutritional status, which can lead to complications and extended hospital stays. Furthermore, there is great concern that prolonged hospital stays can lead to increased medical expenses and a shortage of hospital beds and nursing facilities, which could develop into a social problem.

[0004] As we enter a super-aging society in the future, the number of elderly people who require dysphagia foods is expected to increase further, and as there is demand for dysphagia foods not only in hospitals but also in facilities for the disabled, nursing homes, and at-home care, many businesses are already developing and manufacturing various dysphagia foods and distributing them on the market. This market is expected to continue to expand in the future.

[0005] However, there are two main problems with these conventional dysphagia foods: First, they are very expensive compared to regular food, making it very difficult for elderly people, the majority of whom are pensioners, to continue purchasing them for every meal due to financial reasons.

[0006] The second problem is that conventional swallowing foods lack the vivid green colors, particularly those of vegetables, and thus lack a pleasing appearance. As a result, they do not stimulate the appetite of those who eat them, making it extremely difficult for them to eat a sufficient amount of food to obtain sufficient nutrition.

[0007] Due to the above problems, even if patients improve their nutritional status by taking appropriate dysphagia food during hospitalization and are able to be discharged, the burden of preparing meals at home is great, and they tend to eat a diet that is biased toward soft foods. As a result, we have seen many cases where patients fall into a state of needing care, such as a decline in nutritional status due to a lack of necessary nutrients, weight and muscle loss, difficulty walking, and a bedridden life, making it difficult for them to live at home. This problem is particularly likely to occur in elderly people living alone and in households where elderly people are caring for each other, and it has been shown that malnutrition due to insufficient intake can lead to a negative chain reaction such as frailty and sarcopenia, which have been attracting increasing attention in recent years.

[0008] The present inventors have conducted extensive research to solve the problems described above, and as a result have discovered that the problems described above can be solved by using an aqueous solution containing sodium bicarbonate and trehalose as solutes to soften plant-based food materials during cooking, and have thus created the present invention based on this knowledge.

[0009] The inventor of the present application, from the standpoint of preparing and providing hospital meals, has been sincerely working on research into improving the quality of dysphagia foods and the like in order to solve the problems described above. The achievements of this research have been recognized, and he has a track record of winning the grand prize at the dysphagia food contest in 2015. Based on this experience of winning the grand prize, the present invention is a further development of the dysphagia food at the contest, based on the concept of "easier, cheaper, and more delicious."

[0010] When filing the application for the present invention, the applicant (inventor) of the present application investigated past patent documents, etc., and was able to find the following documents in the technical field to which the present invention pertains, but was unable to find any patent documents that detailed the technical ideas, etc., relating to the present invention. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0011] [Patent Document 1] JP 2003-284522 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2013-220043 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2016-077256 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0012] The present invention aims to provide a method for strongly softening plant-based food materials so that the plant-based food materials can be suitably used as ingredients in dysphagia foods and nursing care foods, and an aqueous solution for use in the method. [Means for solving the problem]

[0013] As a means for achieving this, the aqueous solution of the present invention is an aqueous solution used to strongly soften plant-based food materials, and is characterized in that it contains solutes of sodium bicarbonate and trehalose in an amount of 1.0-2.0% by weight and 1.0-2.0% by weight of trehalose relative to 100% by weight of water.

[0014] Furthermore, the method of the present invention for strongly softening plant-based food materials is characterized by preparing an aqueous solution by dissolving 1.0 to 2.0% by weight of sodium bicarbonate and 1.0 to 2.0% by weight of trehalose in 100% by weight of water, and then immersing the plant-based food materials in the aqueous solution and heating it.

[0015] The method of the present invention for strongly softening a plant-based food material is also characterized in that the plant-based food material is a vegetable or a legume. Effect of the Invention

[0016] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a method for strongly softening plant-based food materials so that the plant-based food materials can be suitably used as ingredients in dysphagia foods and nursing care foods, and an aqueous solution for use in the method. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] The following describes an embodiment of the aqueous solution according to the present invention that is used to strongly soften plant food materials, and a method for strongly softening plant food materials using the aqueous solution.

[0018] First, sodium bicarbonate and trehalose are prepared and dissolved in water to obtain an aqueous solution, with the amounts of sodium bicarbonate being 1.0 to 2.0% by weight and trehalose being 1.0 to 2.0% by weight relative to 100% by weight of water.

[0019] Next, prepare the plant food material to be softened. In this embodiment, frozen spinach is prepared. The frozen spinach is placed in a container, and the aqueous solution obtained above is poured into it. At this time, it is preferable to pour the aqueous solution so that the entire frozen spinach is submerged. In terms of weight ratio, it is preferable to use about 2 to 4 parts of aqueous solution for every 1 part of frozen spinach.

[0020] The frozen spinach is then placed in a steam convection oven together with the container and heated. The heating conditions are approximately 95°C steam for 30-40 minutes. After heating, it is confirmed that the spinach has become soft enough to be mashed with a spoon or fingers, and then it is removed from the container without losing its shape and transferred to another container.

[0021] Next, place the spinach in its container in a blast chiller to cool it down. This allows the spinach to cool and keeps its shape.

[0022] In this way, the aqueous solution according to the present embodiment can be used to strongly soften the spinach. The spinach obtained by the method according to the present embodiment is sufficiently softened so that the tongue and gums alone can be crushed, making it very easy to swallow and suitable for use as a food for people with dysphagia.

[0023] In the above embodiment, frozen spinach was used as the plant food material, but any plant food material other than spinach can be used. In particular, the method and aqueous solution according to the present invention are effective for vegetables that are high in fiber and do not become soft enough to be crushed with the tongue or gums even after long periods of heating, such as burdock (including frozen sakigaki burdock), kiriboshi daikon, and hijiki (including dried hijiki).

[0024] In addition, when the method and the aqueous solution according to the present invention are used, there is an advantage that the green color of the food material is not lost even when the food material is cooked. Therefore, the present invention can be suitably used for green vegetables and beans. Examples of such green vegetables and beans include cucumbers, green peas, kidney beans, bok choy, broccoli, and Japanese mustard spinach (including frozen versions of these vegetables and beans).

[0025] Furthermore, while steam convection is used in the above embodiments, the most significant feature of the present invention is the use of an aqueous solution containing baking soda and trehalose when cooking plant-based food materials, and therefore the effects of the present invention can be enjoyed as long as cooking can be performed without using steam convection.

[0026] In the above embodiment, a blast chiller is also used, but for the same reason, its use is not essential. The effects of the present invention can be obtained by other means of removing heat. However, it goes without saying that by making effective use of these devices, higher quality dysphagia foods can be easily obtained.

[0027] A particularly great advantage of the present invention is that it uses very inexpensive and easily available food additives, namely baking soda and trehalose, and therefore makes it possible to produce dysphagia foods without incurring costs. In addition, these substances are naturally occurring and have been used without any problems for some time, so there is also the advantage that there are no safety concerns. EXAMPLES

[0028] Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples.

[0029] [Preparation of aqueous solution] 4.5 g of sodium bicarbonate and 4.5 g of trehalose were prepared and dissolved in 300 ml of water to obtain an aqueous solution. In the examples, 300 ml of the aqueous solution was basically prepared for 100 g of food material.

[0030] [Example 1: Raw cucumber] 100 g of raw cucumbers cut into 5 mm widths were prepared and placed in a container, after which 300 ml of the prepared aqueous solution was poured into the container. After confirming that the entire cucumber was submerged in the aqueous solution, the container was placed in a steam convection oven and heated with steam at 95°C for 30 minutes.

[0031] After making sure that the cucumbers were soft enough to be crushed with your fingers, gently drained them with a colander, placed them in a container, and then placed in a blast chiller to cool and settle their shape.Then, soak them in seasoning liquid to adjust the flavor.

[0032] The appearance of the obtained cucumbers retained a beautiful green color and did not look like foods for people with difficulty swallowing. Furthermore, when they were tasted, they had a softness that could not be imagined from their appearance, and were fully usable as foods for people with difficulty swallowing.

[0033] [Example 2: Frozen green peas] 100 g of frozen peas were prepared and placed in a container, and then 300 ml of the prepared aqueous solution was poured into the container. After confirming that the frozen peas were immersed in the aqueous solution, the container was placed in a steam convection oven and heated with steam at 95°C for 40 minutes.

[0034] After checking that the frozen green peas were soft enough to be crushed with fingers, they were removed from the container without losing their shape, and immersed in seasoning liquid to adjust the flavor. After that, they were placed in a blast chiller to cool and settle their shape.

[0035] The appearance of the obtained frozen green peas retained a beautiful green color and did not look like a swallowing food at all. Furthermore, when the peas were tasted, they had a softness that could not be imagined from the appearance, and were sufficiently usable as a swallowing food.

[0036] [Example 3: Frozen spinach] 100 g of frozen spinach was prepared and placed in a container, and then 300 ml of the prepared aqueous solution was poured into the container. After confirming that the frozen spinach was submerged in the aqueous solution, the container was placed in a steam convection oven and heated with steam at 95°C for 40 minutes.

[0037] After making sure that the frozen spinach was soft enough to be crushed with fingers, the container was drained and placed in a colander, then placed in a blast chiller to cool and settle the shape.Then, the spinach was immersed in seasoning liquid to adjust the flavor.

[0038] The appearance of the obtained frozen spinach retained its beautiful green color, and it did not look like a swallowing food at all. Furthermore, when it was tasted, it had a softness that could not be imagined from its appearance, and it was fully usable as a swallowing food. [Industrial Applicability]

[0039] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a method for strongly softening plant-based food materials and an aqueous solution used in the method so that the plant-based food materials can be suitably used as ingredients in dysphagia foods and nursing care foods. Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to strongly soften plant-based food materials without using expensive enzymes, so that dysphagia foods and the like can be provided at a very low cost.

[0040] Furthermore, unlike the impregnation freezing method, which requires several days to soften the plant food material, the present invention can strongly soften the plant food material in a short period of time, such as 30 minutes to 1 hour. Another advantage of the present invention is that the materials required to implement the method are inexpensive and easy to obtain, making it very easy for anyone to implement.

Claims

1. The aqueous solution is used for strongly softening a vegetable food material, and is characterized in that it contains sodium bicarbonate and trehalose as solutes, and the amounts of these solutes are 1.0-2.0% by weight for sodium bicarbonate and 1.0-2.0% by weight for trehalose relative to 100% by weight of water.

2. The method comprises preparing an aqueous solution in which 1.0-2.0% by weight of sodium bicarbonate and 1.0-2.0% by weight of trehalose are dissolved in 100% by weight of water, and then immersing the plant food material in the aqueous solution and heating it, thereby strongly softening the plant food material.

3. 3. The method for intensively softening plant food materials according to claim 2, wherein the plant food materials are vegetables or legumes.